I know this is an old question asked again and again. After being lucky to watch most of the bangladeshi bowling till the end of the day.. there are few things.. i found not right bashar. His captaincy is alaways under question and after today. it hurts me more than anytime else. He did great till 6th wicket, but. then. he swithced back to his shell again. At 93 for 6, any captain in the world at any level of game would simply go for the kill. His frist mistake was to bring jr so late.. He is our match winner.. why cant basher understand this. When,,wind iis blowing, uneven bounce.. u need a spinner who can also turn viciously. Jr is the one in our team. He really would have ripped aussie batting apart today if he was given chance to bowl early. Eeven when he brought back.. he did his tric immediately. His dismissal of Clark is as good as any great dissmisal by a great spin bowler. I would persoanlly recon it near the famous Share warne dismissal of Gatting in 93. Still he was completely underbowled.

What most annoyed me.. is after 6th wicket. With Lee.. hardly reading Jr.. and Gilly.. was playing excellent to Rafiq.. bashar still continued wtih Rafiq. In my view.. He should have allowed Jr to ball Lee and bring Rajib to face Gilly. Rajib would have been a much unsettiling for Gilly at this late stage with low light, cloudy weather and Away moving short pitch ball to the lefty with good amount of pace. INsteead.. he stopeed Jr.. and brought Masree in his place.. wha tis that??.. Gilly.. was playing near perfect to rafiq.. and bashar will continued to le thim bow Gilly. I hate such approach. i was really dreaming for an upset and I actaully was getting stronger . since. very few were actaully playing Jr with any sort of comfort.. even playin gwith a cross bat............ This was soo encouraging.. only to get dented by this last one hour crap decisions from our captain. It acually might prove very ver costly for BD. sice.. Gilly.. once settled.. would actaulyl take the score beyond Bd's reach all by himself alone. What a pathetic Captaincy by Bashar when.. he was required to take some real smart decision.

I am soo dishearted!!

sunny747

April 10, 2006, 07:47 AM

i understand your frustation. same goes here. we had a chance to bowl them out quick. But u see!! it is australia theycan turn around any time. Abt basher,not sure whether he took the right decision of bringing Mash into attack. But things might look different from the TV.He may have taken the right decision at that point.For an example, u probably heard abt the riot in guahati india. From the seat, the field looked completely dry but if u are actualy in the field, u would find is soapy. So the fans turned the situation into riot. So same goes here. Basher was there, he is aware of the situation better than us. So relax my friend!!

Ejaj

April 10, 2006, 07:59 AM

i understand your frustation. same goes here. we had a chance to bowl them out quick. But u see!! it is australia theycan turn around any time. Abt basher,not sure whether he took the right decision of bringing Mash into attack. But things might look different from the TV.He may have taken the right decision at that point.For an example, u probably heard abt the riot in guahati india. From the seat, the field looked completely dry but if u are actualy in the field, u would find is soapy. So the fans turned the situation into riot. So same goes here. Basher was there, he is aware of the situation better than us. So relax my friend!!
:) amusing example. thanks mate.
Well.. i was in favour of not let aussie settle in. but. this is where my frustation came to play. bashar really allowed batsman like Gilly to settle down. He alone can take this gme well awy from BD............. he is such a toothless captain.

IanW

April 10, 2006, 09:09 AM

On the contrary, his captaincy was excellent.

He rotated the bowlers, kept them fresh, kept the correct field placings and basically did his part in putting the team in a position to win.

Ian Whitchurch

nayef

April 10, 2006, 10:23 AM

It may have sth to do with the fact that we'r still not over our defensive mindset (better be safe than sorry)....
i'm sure Bashar will go for the kill early morning tomorrow.

Hatebreed

April 10, 2006, 10:25 AM

I'm a little disappointed also.. Bashar should have rested Rafique and bowled Shahadat instead of Masri. Shahadat bowled in good lines and his pace could have gotte Lee out.

Tomorrow I'd like to see Aussies all-out by 200-220, which will give us around 200 runs lead. If we score 200 more 2nd inning we can set them a big total.

TheWatcher

April 10, 2006, 10:39 AM

I too think Enamul was under used today and Bashar's field placing should have been more aggressive after Australia was six down (yeah, I know, there is no point whinning about Bashar's negetive field placing, like a broken record, we just have to bear with him :( )

betaar

April 10, 2006, 11:30 AM

You guys should also take into consideration that this is an unfamiliar territory (I mean on the top against AUSSIE) for Bashar to be in, so it would take him a while to even accept the reality that BD is actually in a winning mode, or as some of you said in a killer mode, against Australia.

But overall I am pretty satisfied and would be open for improvement tomorrow from Bashar's end as a captain.

Miraz

April 10, 2006, 12:40 PM

Bashar did an excellent job today. Took correct decisions about bowling change but I think he should be little morfe aggressive tomorrow morning and should go for kill.

Ejaj

April 10, 2006, 12:51 PM

On the contrary, his captaincy was excellent.

He rotated the bowlers, kept them fresh, kept the correct field placings and basically did his part in putting the team in a position to win.

Ian Whitchurch

Well. i wont really say.. bashar didnt do well... but. he could have done much better today.. specially. in last one hour. 6 wickets down.. and Gilly already started playing excellently rafiq.. I really didnt find any asnwer. why bashar allowed Gilly to settle in and get his confidance back. If he were bit more attacking.. Bd could have got one or two more wickets today. Jr was quite unplayablel at tha ttime.. and it was only a matter of time. Lee would have fell for .

sar2005

April 10, 2006, 12:58 PM

Stop Complaining. What else you expect from him. I am sure if Enam and Shahadat were bowling little more today and belted a bit, some of the members here could easily say, why did not he use Mashrafi and Rafiq. They are our best two bowlers.

Guys, get relaxed and wish as good possible to BD.

brikonwall

April 10, 2006, 03:11 PM

Some people are just never happy. And yes, you guessed it right, those are kind of people opens this kind of discussion thread. We need to learn how to appreciated in good times. We should be just happy that we are on to of the Australians.

reyme

April 10, 2006, 04:00 PM

Some people are just never happy.

True. Its like you finish one task and your manager says, good, NOW get back to the next job!

Gavaskar made a comment:
"The only reason Bashar is so far behind in the 1st slip, is maybe he can a have a good view of the game!". Slips were set way too far behind for this slow pitch. The result was a sitter dropped catch in the 2nd slip, which fell short.

ESPN commentators repeatedly wanted to have a little more aggressive field setting, as Harsha said: "By looking at the field setting it seems as if they are telling the batsman you play your game and if you make mistakes we will take it"...Ponting was setting close fileding even when the batsmen were scoring freely.

Bottom line, Bashar is doing okay, but he could have done better and there is a room for improvement. Some members nicely pointed that out and there is nothing wrong with it.

Sovik

April 10, 2006, 04:37 PM

Sumon was excellent today. i was impressed

fishyguy

April 10, 2006, 05:21 PM

Sumon's captaincy was fine except I just can't stand the fact that he gave Ashraful the last over.:mad:

That was a stupid decision, especially with Gilchrist on strike.

Why would he do that.

That kind of swung the momentum for Australia psyhcologically.

If that last over was given to Mash and was a maden the score would've been 134/6, Gilchrist wouldnt have had his 50 and the score would've looked much better on paper.

A difference of 11 runs is huge when your score is so low.

IanW

April 10, 2006, 05:30 PM

He was trying to buy a wicket ... invite Gilly to slog the part time leggie, get a top edge or sky something, and then it's pretty much over.

You can try stuff like that with runs in the bank.

Ian

RazabQ

April 10, 2006, 05:36 PM

He was trying to buy a wicket ... invite Gilly to slog the part time leggie, get a top edge or sky something, and then it's pretty much over.

You can try stuff like that with runs in the bank.

Ian
You guys want aggressive captaincy right? Well having Ash bowl the last over of the day, like the decision to bring Rafique the over before tea, were both pages taken out of the Mark Taylor book of captaincy!

fai_hasan

April 10, 2006, 08:05 PM

This is not a good question to ask. As you can see, "Korme porichoi". A man did his work, now see it, and realise it.

Use your head, don't be biased.

Ejaj

April 11, 2006, 12:34 AM

In reply to some of the posters.. who have rather criticised me for not being content with what bashar did yesterday... I would like to tell u all that.. the aftershock of the mistakes that Bashar did last day.. will be shown to u all. and this Gilly will simply take the score beyond our expected target by miles. He will alone destroy bangladeshi bowlers and this is soo sad. Being a team like Bangladesh.. oppertunity like this doesnt come that often and whenever you do get such.. the best thing is to use it right and use it well. Unlike you guys.. I dont want to be just content with a good performance on last day.. for me.. I would want to see bangladesh take every oppertunity that is given and make the best use of it. Bashar had the chance to totally unsettle Gilly. and could cause one or two more wickets to fall yesterday... unfortunately.. he failed when it mattered most. So sorry guys.. if i cant be content wiht Bashar performance unlike you. Its just not my philosophy to misuse a rare oppertunity.

ammark

April 11, 2006, 02:35 AM

there hasnt been a single match where bashar's field settings and strategy hasnt disappointed me at some point or the other. Same goes with todays post-lunch strategy (albeit Gillespie's wicket). He isnt being proactive enough to take the new ball and bring in a change while Gilchrist is belting Enam. BD is losing momentum regardless. And the overworn ball is getting even older and useless. I'm disappointed :(

GuruTM

April 11, 2006, 02:46 AM

I was not in favour of Bashar's captaincy at any point of time. He has set another example of bad captaincy today.

Ejaj

April 11, 2006, 06:05 AM

my worst fear is taking shape. Bashar's poor captaincy. cause Bd to loose atleast hundred more runs of lead.. and our 2nd innings battings isnt showing anything different than we used to see. So.. to sum up.. loosing this 100 plus runs. will be a very costly matter when Aussie will roll over with their powerful battings in the 4th innings. God. I wish , I could be wrong this time.

rafiq

April 11, 2006, 08:29 AM

Whining about Bashar's captaincy is as useful as why JO gets to play instead of Manjarul Rana or why Kapali should not convert to Islam if he wants to play cricket for Bangladesh (did I really say that, noooooo).

There were plenty of things you could point out about Ponting's captaincy as well. MacGill was brought in late. Captains tend to go with their brand name spinner, that's why the call him the brand name spinner. Ponting's decision to not put a second slip on Day 3 gifted Bangladesh at least a few boundaries and probably Nafees would have gone earlier.

However, Bashar has his flaws no doubt. I was half asleep at the time, so could not follow the commentary on why he didn't take the new ball at lunch. All in all, we have a problem going for the kill, maybe it's not all Bashar's fault, the rest of the team has to perform as well.

I think what hurt the team the most re: Bashar in this match was his two crazy dismissals.

Sovik

April 11, 2006, 08:36 AM

i just didn't understand, why he did not take new ball

Tintin

April 11, 2006, 08:43 AM

Offtopic, but what do you guys think about Ponting's captaincy ?

Sovik

April 11, 2006, 08:49 AM

Offtopic, but what do you guys think about Ponting's captaincy ?

what about him, he is the captain of the world's best team

Tigers_eye

April 11, 2006, 08:54 AM

Whatever the captaincy was the runout was too much for me to take.

Tintin

April 11, 2006, 09:01 AM

what about him, he is the captain of the world's best team

Captain of the best team in the world != world's best captain :)

I found it strange that he had only one slip for Lee and Gillespie in the beginning of the second innings. From the CI commentary, atleast one catch and four or five fours went through that area in the first ten overs.

SMHasan

April 11, 2006, 09:18 AM

In the end of the third days play if anyone of us is dissapointed with the performence of Bangladesh then Mr Basher has to take the biggest responsibility. Our second innings is such an importatnt one where he has taken some serious type of wrong decisions.

1.He did give Gilchrist a wonderful chance of taking singles in the last balls of the over where we needed to keep the tail enders on strike most of the time.But Gilchrist took a single in the end of each over and kept the strike.

2.We needed to occupy the crease as long as possible in the afternoon session but what he did? When the fielder threw the ball to the stamps he was simply walking! This is ridiculous, you cant efford to do that in that situation of the match.He accelerated when he saw the fielder was going to throw the ball but it was too late.The very basic went wrong there which was really unfortunate.

A win was never be a dream against the Aussies but as opportunity came we could have done better to put them under immense pressure. I dont say Bangladesh have to win this match but its all about utilizing the chances. If we do really bad tomorrow then those two points will come under light. There is no doubt about that.

oracle

April 11, 2006, 12:22 PM

Ponting's skills as captain is more shocking revelation than Bashar's. Ponting's place in the team is his batting prowess.

We also need to see in terms of National captains in the past . If we do so then Bashar's is just average - no better than what we had before , but his record speaks for itself.

nayef

April 11, 2006, 01:26 PM

I believe we'll have to wait for the next captain if we want to see a more aggressive mindset. An example in mind, England with Mike Atherton and Nasser Hussain, compared to the current Vaughan and Co.

At that time, England used to be slapped all around the park.. hence the captains lacked the aggression. Hussain was being widely blamed for employing negative tactics using Giles. Simple reason was that they wanted to be safe rather than sorry. A team can only take risks when they back themselves to pull it off.

Our team is slowly growing into that mould, but Bashar still thinks of the early days of his captaincy, when keeping the good batsmen under control was his aim and not to get them out. He's been a bit more aggressive lately, but its sth we have to bear with until the next captain comes in. I say the next captain because now we r frequently running into situations where we can dominate and the players know that all they need to do is back themselves and apply the pressure. Also, a younger leader would be more willing to take risks.

Ejaj

April 11, 2006, 01:39 PM

Well. for a team like bangladesh.. Playing safe is probably the most used option any captain would take. But. if there is an oppertunity to get some better result....... we shoudl be ready to grab that at any time. i have never really criticized bashar for his captaincy much.. occassionally disagreeing with this on fireld decisions. But. in this match.. i literaly lost my cool. Its realyl pathetic to see that he allowed things to happen automatically, when there were options to force things to happen. And. this is th epoint.. he lets himself down a lot in my heart. Oppertunity like this doesnt come that often for team like bangladesh. and when it did come.. its a nonsese to misuse that and become idle in the field. when there is an option to think.. bashar goes into leidure mode. PATHETIC!!

RazabQ

April 11, 2006, 03:16 PM

Ejaj, I can see that you all emotional about this topic and hence won't criticize you for your IMHO irrational stance. But let's look at the matter dispassionately and cover point by point the contentious issues:

1) Bashar allowed singles off the last ball to happen.

- Exactly how did he let that happen? During yesterday's Dizzy-Gilly, Gilly-other partnerships, the field consistently moved in to prevent singles in the last two balls. It's not Bashar's fault if Enam or Rafique slipped balls down the legside to enable the single

2) Bashar did not take the new ball
- It's a debatable one. I would have liked to have seen the new ball taken but his plan worked didn't it? Australia did not cross 300, and other than gilly, we didn't let anyone else get much runs. So while I can disagree, I can't argue with the result

3) Bowling Enam too long
- Prolly did. Enam should have come off 1-2 over earlier, but hindsight is 20/20 and there is nothing to say that Gilly wouldn't have tonked Shahadat or Masree. He can tonk anyone.

4) Runout
- Stupid Stupid! He is entirely to blame as he was ambling. And he realized what he'd done as soon as he reached the other crease. He put his hand on his head. That's poor batting rather than poor captaincy.

5) Not aggressive enough or imaginative enough
- In this test at least, he has been far more aggressive than Ponting. Did you see the phlanax of fielders surrounding the tail-enders when spinners were bowling? He was willing to risk Rajin or Ashraf in overs before tea or lunch to test things out. Don't forget it was Rafique coming on right before tea that god Martyn. Could he have done more? Absolutely - if he was Mark Taylor. But he is not.

6) Allowing match to drift.
- As Gilly pointed out, the pitch had eased up. Not any more low bounce, and the ball was turning slowly again. Given that circumstance and the fact that Gilly was playing the most circumspect innings of his life, what would you have done differently. I want specific suggestions. Recall, England was succesful against Gilcrhist by employing a defensive strategy and making him force the shots. Bashar did the same - and Gilly didn't take the bait.

To sum. I blame Bashar for that idiotic run out and perhaps not taking the new ball, but other than that, he's been the better captain on display.

Ejaj

April 11, 2006, 03:33 PM

Ejaj, I can see that you all emotional about this topic and hence won't criticize you for your IMHO irrational stance. But let's look at the matter dispassionately and cover point by point the contentious issues:

1) Bashar allowed singles off the last ball to happen.

- Exactly how did he let that happen? During yesterday's Dizzy-Gilly, Gilly-other partnerships, the field consistently moved in to prevent singles in the last two balls. It's not Bashar's fault if Enam or Rafique slipped balls down the legside to enable the single

2) Bashar did not take the new ball
- It's a debatable one. I would have liked to have seen the new ball taken but his plan worked didn't it? Australia did not cross 300, and other than gilly, we didn't let anyone else get much runs. So while I can disagree, I can't argue with the result

3) Bowling Enam too long
- Prolly did. Enam should have come off 1-2 over earlier, but hindsight is 20/20 and there is nothing to say that Gilly wouldn't have tonked Shahadat or Masree. He can tonk anyone.

4) Runout
- Stupid Stupid! He is entirely to blame as he was ambling. And he realized what he'd done as soon as he reached the other crease. He put his hand on his head. That's poor batting rather than poor captaincy.

5) Not aggressive enough or imaginative enough
- In this test at least, he has been far more aggressive than Ponting. Did you see the phlanax of fielders surrounding the tail-enders when spinners were bowling? He was willing to risk Rajin or Ashraf in overs before tea or lunch to test things out. Don't forget it was Rafique coming on right before tea that god Martyn. Could he have done more? Absolutely - if he was Mark Taylor. But he is not.

6) Allowing match to drift.
- As Gilly pointed out, the pitch had eased up. Not any more low bounce, and the ball was turning slowly again. Given that circumstance and the fact that Gilly was playing the most circumspect innings of his life, what would you have done differently. I want specific suggestions. Recall, England was succesful against Gilcrhist by employing a defensive strategy and making him force the shots. Bashar did the same - and Gilly didn't take the bait.

To sum. I blame Bashar for that idiotic run out and perhaps not taking the new ball, but other than that, he's been the better captain on display.

Thanks for another nicely written post from you. I just want to clear out why i was specifially upset over Bashar's captaincy on day 2 last session. When the 6th wicket fell, And Lee came to bat..Enab was giving lots of trouble to Lee and Gilly was still cautiously playing Rafiq and Enam. He was completely in a defensive mood by himself and rather started to play with the vert best of straight bat. Eventually. after 4 or 5 overs. he started playing rafiq really well.. although he was still having tourble playing Enam with Flighted turing ball. Rafiq had been great all the time. but. at the particular overs.. he was well played and read by Adam and unlike Enam.. Rafiq wasnt really a variation bowler. So.. playing Rafiq well.. actaully gave Adam much needed confidance on himwself. Now. by this.. i never mean to say that Adam isnt a great player. He is really good.. but.. at the vey begining.. he shaky liek all other top order batsmen. Thats why. it hurt me most.. when isee. bashar kept on bowling Rafiq all the time. I never put a question why did he allow to rotate stike at the end of every over.... I agree that.. a captain hardly could do anyting.. if the bowlers allow this to happen. But... his decision to continue with rafiq really annoyed me. Another fact that.. Rajib had been really least used in this match. and bashar was so reluctant to use him. To what I see.. I thought ,., it woud have been a much wiser decison to have rajib and Enam bowling for about 5-8 overs before bringing back rafiq again. by this.. Adam might not get the chance to fully settle in. And. once a settle aussie........... a dangerous customer agasint any team. Well. yes. it might not work as u said. but.. there isnt any harm trying diffent , is it??...

To me.. last one hour.. of day two.. is the most disappointing in this entire test. To my calculation.. Bd got atleast 100 less lead in first innings.

sensible

April 11, 2006, 03:44 PM

Can some one really explain two things???????????

1. Why did bashar decided not to take the new ball? Why was he trying save the price of a ball? His decision allowed Gil to scores sixes off Enamul! Is a new ball really that costly? Seriously, what could be a possible explanation for his decision?

2. Why was he decided to get himself out the way he did? Why on earth he needed to take that single?

RazabQ

April 11, 2006, 03:50 PM

Ejaj, thanks for elaborating. To sum up, you feel that when Gilly came in and was shaky, he should have brought Enam instead of Rafique, and also tried Rajib. Right? I'll tacke the easy one first. With Gilly in, and shaky, the last thing you want to do is bring on an a tearaway who'll serve up short stuff - Gilly would have quickly played himself into form. As for the Rafique vs Enam argument - you may have something there. Probably Bashar was guilty of the same thing as Ponting with MacGill and Warne; he went with his name brand spinner.

Ejaj

April 11, 2006, 04:00 PM

Thanks razabq. well :) i better elaborate a little more about rajib. From the earlier time. What i saw was. rajib was bowling near chest hight short ball with a natural outswing for lefty. Gilly could become ballastic on pulling or hooking. but. given that condition with 93 for 6 .. gilly would actually be more defensive in his approach. While Enam onthe other side.. with his turn and flight.. would defnitiely puzzle this master batsman for some more time. this would actually give bangaldesh more chance to rattle Lee.. since. Gilly would have wanted Enam to get away from Lee than Rajib.. giving Rajib.. a much better chahce with his short pitch towards Lee. Eventually. it might lead to another wicket of Lee (btw.. I was not really looking for Gilly wicket. rather..I was on to other wickets.). An unsettled Gilly would have added much more agony and imptience to the tailenders . But. Allowing gilly to settle in.. simply inturn improves the other batsman who would just wasnt to stick rather than slog.

Beamer

April 11, 2006, 04:02 PM

I believe we'll have to wait for the next captain if we want to see a more aggressive mindset. An example in mind, England with Mike Atherton and Nasser Hussain, compared to the current Vaughan and Co.

At that time, England used to be slapped all around the park.. hence the captains lacked the aggression. Hussain was being widely blamed for employing negative tactics using Giles. Simple reason was that they wanted to be safe rather than sorry. A team can only take risks when they back themselves to pull it off.

Our team is slowly growing into that mould, but Bashar still thinks of the early days of his captaincy, when keeping the good batsmen under control was his aim and not to get them out. He's been a bit more aggressive lately, but its sth we have to bear with until the next captain comes in. I say the next captain because now we r frequently running into situations where we can dominate and the players know that all they need to do is back themselves and apply the pressure. Also, a younger leader would be more willing to take risks.

Good observation and I tend to agree with you. This is the thing for us to ponder. It is clearly evident that we have improved as a team collectively from the years past. Bashar's severe shortcomings as a captain didn't really matter in those days as the team was always in a losing situation during a test match. It had little or no impact on the overall situation of the game. Move ahead a few years. We are more or else closing the gap inch by inch with other test playing nations. As we get close to being par with other teams in terms of cricketing ability alone, the match situations will get more and more competitive and thats where the skill of captaincy comes into play. His shortcomings will be even more exposed when the margin between the teams are not as wide. He was never a good captain and is shackled by the mentality of losing years, which is natural. A new young confident captain will be needed in the future to change that mindset. Until, he retires, he will be the captain ( as he is still our best test batsman ). So, we would have to wait patiently for another 3-4 years and maybe he will change with changed fortune of the team. Time will tell.

metallian

April 11, 2006, 04:05 PM

I think someone else should take over captaincy from basher (Khaled Mashud, maybe?). I remember Bashar used to score more runs and be more consistent in batting when he wasn't a captain. face the truth, not everyone can handle the pressure of captaincy. Bashar is an excellent batsman and I think if he gives up captaincy; he will have less things to worry about and bat in a more consistent manner.

what do you guys think?

Beamer

April 11, 2006, 04:14 PM

No. No khaled Mashud. That will also mean reverting back to old days. The new captain will have to come from the younger generation when it is time. What they can do now for that is to name the logical successor as the vice captain and let him grow for a few years in that capacity. They however, must identify who that person is and someone who more or else has become a permanent member. It could be Shahriar Nafees ( as he has captained before ) or somebody else with a positive mindset. He must be a productive member of the team. SA did it with young G Smith.

metallian

April 11, 2006, 04:17 PM

No. No khaled Mashud. That will also mean reverting back to old days. The new captain will have to come from the younger generation when it is time. What they can do now for that is to name the logical successor as the vice captain and let him grow for a few years in that capacity. They however, must identify who that person is and someone who more or else has become a permanent member. It could be Shahriar Nafees ( as he has captained before ) or somebody else with a positive mindset. He must be a productive member of the team. SA did it with young G Smith.

I dont think Shahriar Nafees should be the captain. I've noticed if a batsman becomes the captain; they tend to bat worse. How about making a bowler as a captain?

Wazim

April 11, 2006, 04:33 PM

ITs all easy to speak from hindsight and from a arm chair. But to be fair, I would have done the same as Bashir and persisted with Rafique since he is one of my most expierenced campaigners and know what to do.

Beamer

April 11, 2006, 04:36 PM

How many bowlers you see in world cricket as the captain? Not many. It's almost always the batsmen. Not saying that there hadn't been any bowler captain though most of them were genuine allrounders ( Imran, Kapil, Pollock maybe Flintoff in the future ). Bowlers miss more games than batsmen. Fast bowlers have injury issues or needs rest from time to time. Spinners simmilarly are in and out of the team depending on the pitch. I tell you this much : Shahriar Nafees will capatin Bangladesh in the future. It could be five years or less from now.

mildwind

April 11, 2006, 08:54 PM

Ponting's skills as captain is more shocking revelation than Bashar's. Ponting's place in the team is his batting prowess.

We also need to see in terms of National captains in the past . If we do so then Bashar's is just average - no better than what we had before , but his record speaks for itself.

Both the teams are playing with average captains. I understand why Ponting was not attacking when Bangladesh was having no trouble in scoring runs. But Bashar had the option to attack when there was bunny in the crease. He could have made Gilly stand in non-striking end and make the batsmen lives miserable on the other end. That way Gilly would get more aggressive and gave up the wicket the way he did. Instead Bashar made the passage for tail enders to move along.

We are improving very much in every aspect of the game. The role of the captain should also be improved. There is no looking back and making comparison what others did in old days. When you look back, you get slowed down and ignore what is coming towards you. Not a good idea, is it?

Ejaj

April 12, 2006, 03:23 AM

Bashar shoudl be punished for letting this match go away from our hand... He is just pathetic!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God. I am soo angry over him

Ahmed_B

April 12, 2006, 04:54 AM

I am absolutely not in favor of finding an escapegoat in Bashar or anyone else. There is simply no excuse for getting 145 all out in 2nd innings after having such a upper hand. I blame all these people:

And above all... I blame the whole team for getting out for 145 after having a lead of 150+ in first innings.

Ejaj

April 12, 2006, 05:14 AM

I am absolutely not in favor of finding an escapegoat in Bashar or anyone else. There is simply no excuse for getting 145 all out in 2nd innings after having such a upper hand. I blame all these people:

And above all... I blame the whole team for getting out for 145 after having a lead of 150+ in first innings.

Ahmed.. I was never in any doubt about BD 2nd innings score which would be around 150 . I was even sure abt this even on the 1st day. So.. technically, I didnt plan to win this match by scoreing another 300 in the 2nd innings.. rather.. i wanted a big 1st innings lead.. and it was very possible to have 250 lead in 1st innings when there were already 6 down with 93. Only.. a smart capainncy was required at the very crunch momemt.. and. As ususal.. Bashar failed to deliever it when it matterd most. He really should give up this captaincy by himself.. and give this job to someone .. who is more positive and can think using diifferent tactic than only choosing between Rafiq->Mash->Jr->Rajib. Boss.. he is just plain pathetic!!

Mr-Cricket

April 12, 2006, 05:40 AM

I posted this on the match-thread. Thought I'd add it here too.

"...Bashar seems incapable of thinking outside the square. He goes for tried and tested methods time after time, and the only time he is prepared to go for a risk is the the over before a break - e.g. bringing on Ashraful for the last over of the second day - thereby giving Gilchrist 11 runs. He should be doing more to stop these unnecessary singles, he should be doing more to lift the spirits of our players. He must experiment more with his bowling line-up.

I find it hard to believe that our fast bowlers arn't even experimenting going around the wicket to the left handed batsman. Gilchrist has been out cheaply to deliveries bowled around the wicket, outside off stump for the last 12 months, and yet no one has adopted this strategy! I mean at the very least give it a shot - if it doesn't work out - at least you tried! Another worry is that our fielders arn't backing up - they arn't walking in with the bowler, and are often caught napping when guys like Hayden nudge one through for a quick single.

And this may sound trivial, but one crucial mistake no one has picked up on, but the commentators are mentioning from time to time - our slips cordon throughout this match has been standing at least 1-2 metres too deep, and on the odd occasion someone edges one through, it falls short of the fielder. Its inexcusible, and he should have realised after initially batting on this pitch for several hours that there was not need to stand soo deep in the slips cordon. At one stage, and I kid you not, Harsha Bogle said "He has a great view from there, doesn't he?"

How are all these things going unnoticed? :eek: ..."

AsifTheManRahman

April 12, 2006, 07:15 AM

Both the teams are playing with average captains.

i agree. i was surprised to see that ponting didn't bring macgill in until the 40 something -th over in the first inning. i believe he's undoubtedly the most effective of the australian bowlers; the only reason he doesn't make it to the team is that fat-boy's got a big reputation.

i actually did post my astonishment regarding ponting's reluctance to use macgill, and in the end, the latter proved that i was right about what i just said in the last para.

AussieFan

April 12, 2006, 07:48 AM

Don't bash Bashar for the stupidity of other players who cannot be depended upon. He always does his bit and he has his own style of captaining too. I trhink he used his bowlers intelligently.

When you guys don't do well, don't pick on the any of the two good guys who are genuinely test class and consistent. Bashar and Rafique.

Ashrafdul... I don't have words that will be acceptable to the Moderators to describe him ! So much talent but what is he using it for ? He's genuinely playing for Australia, in this series !!!

AsifTheManRahman

April 12, 2006, 07:57 AM

Ash on his day can murder any bowling attack in the world. All that it takes is some patience, and i thought he learnt that against the lankans. looks like he's gone back to his old form now.

just because someone else up the order has done all the hitting and has become the hero doesn't mean that you have to come in at number 5 when the ones before you have already built a strong foundation and slash everything that comes your way, only to show everyone that you're better than the centurion in the team.

Ejaj

April 13, 2006, 04:31 AM

I am mad and craziliy mad. Bashar is lucky that. I am so far away from Dhaka and cant actualyl reach him.. His mistakes in 2nd day .. became the key for Aussie Revival. and the match ended how it supposed to happen when U let Aussie go free. This thread of mine.. is 200% dedicated Bahsar Bashing. So.. Anyone who doesnt like to bash or not think Bashar had anyting to do with the defeat. He can rerfrain from reading or posting. As a poor fan of BD.. after this lost .. I can only bleed and shout. i am mad. I sooooo mad. I had been mad for last 3 days.. as i could see. that end result was comming. I could see this defeat 3 days ago. and. given the start and such an inspired performance.. only to let it down just becoz of Bashar. Uff. I cant take it anymore. I cant even feel liek to imagine his face anymore. I hate him so much.. I think. i would never like him anymore in his entire careeer. Even if he scores 300.. i would just consider that his duty and will not even ike to give credit at all.. IF he fails to a 300.. i will be bashing him for his irresponsibilty not to score the 300 an hence.. his sacking. I will not say aynting.. if the all other batsmen fail to score 10 runs in an innigs. but i will be mad if he fails anyting below 100. Bashar is in my hitlist.. and hatelist. I Hate HIM Sooo much. [...edited...]

For better future.. this [...edited...] should be removed from the captaincy. This 2nd generation of players should be removed fromthe team as soon as possoble. Their mind and cricket brain possess greatest hurdles for Bangladesh for any future success. Earlier they be removed..better for BD team and for the nation.

shaoun

April 13, 2006, 08:35 AM

i cant believe you guys are talking about changing captain. look at bashars captaincy record. team has improved alot under his captaincy. it is a very tight unit and i think bashar deserves some credit for that. alot of times we saw bashar leading from the front. scoring runs when the team needed. creating big partnership with younger players. bashar may not be as agressive as some of you like him to be but he is in the field he can tell what the situation requires then we can. and replacing bashar with who? before bashar bangladesh team needed a captain who can captain the team for long time and perform as well. and bashar is perfect for the job. i dont see any other player in our team who can replace bashar as captain.

crazyisland

April 13, 2006, 09:11 AM

Rafique should be the captain until he retires. He has the "never die" attitude which will be transmitted to other players. Bashar should resign. He just doesn't have the inspiring leadership quality. Chewing Gums will not make him look confident. The fact is he doesn't believe himself that his team can win against big teams. I am not just saying this because I am mad that we gave the game away like that. I said this back in 2003 - http://www.banglacricket.com/alochona/showthread.php?t=7531

Carte Blanche

April 13, 2006, 09:16 AM

Calling for Bashar's head is not even an option. He is the only person suitable for this job - like it or not. Sure he is not perfect, just like our team. I personally think he has improved over the couple of years. His bowling changes have been more fruitful and more often than not he stays in touch with others seeking a 2nd opinion. Now, those bowling changes and tactical maneuvers don't always work, but at least he is trying. To his credit, he has been more proactive than reactive. I'm not saying this as a kneejerk reaction to the scare we just gave the Aussies. My point is - his captaincy is NOT the biggest worry (if at all) of this team at this moment. We have harder nuts to crack.

sensible

April 13, 2006, 10:02 AM

Who do you think should replace Bashar Today?

Carte Blanche

April 13, 2006, 10:16 AM

Who do you think should replace Bashar Today?

If we must...

Chuck Norris

Mr-Cricket

April 13, 2006, 10:18 AM

I'm trying my best to not be critical here, we played outstanding cricket for most of this match. But, honestly, Bashar's attitude leaves alot to be desired. Almost everytime the camera focused on him, in the last two days, he had a downcast face, and just did not have the motivation and 'never-say-die' spirit that we need in a captain. This is not to take anything away from his batting - he is clearly the best Bangladeshi to have played the game. But you need an inspirational leader, that will get you over the line in such tight situations. That will keep you focused, even when you are in complete control of the game. We saw what can happen when our tails are up, never more so than the last 10 overs of last night - Rafique, Enamul, etc were electric. But you need a leader that can keep the players on their toes for a full 5 days (as difficult as that is). Bashar cannot. Still, he probably has one of the hardest jobs in the Cricket world, and I do not envy him. He can only learn from this (However painful that may be for him).
There is no one in this current squad that can replace him. And nor should there be. What Bashar really needs is some support from our Coaching staff - he is in really bad shape. Did anyone notice how sodden and downcast he looked in the post match interviews? I really question whether this great man will ever be able to get over the events that culminated in this defeat. It will haunt him for the rest of his career, no doubt.

Shaan

April 13, 2006, 10:19 AM

i agree. i was surprised to see that ponting didn't bring macgill in until the 40 something -th over in the first inning. i believe he's undoubtedly the most effective of the australian bowlers; the only reason he doesn't make it to the team is that fat-boy's got a big reputation.

i actually did post my astonishment regarding ponting's reluctance to use macgill, and in the end, the latter proved that i was right about what i just said in the last para.

I was scared of Mcgill, because this guy got strange delivery action which is very difficult to read for batsman. He was very much controll with every single delivery,, much better thatn Warne.

sensible

April 13, 2006, 10:22 AM

:floor: :floor: If we must...

Chuck Norris

Carte Blanche

April 13, 2006, 10:23 AM

Of course he will get over it. Many of our players broke into tears after the Multan tragedy. Come to think of it, we got much closer in the Multan test, albeit against a far weaker team. Bashar was a part of that team, and we did get over it. As a matter of fact, the standard of cricket played in this test has been of the highest level. We can only get better from here. This defeat should have a positive effect on them. They won't cry over spilled milk for too long.

sensible

April 13, 2006, 10:23 AM

If we must...

Chuck Norris<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

Very Well Said....:D :D

Mr-Cricket

April 13, 2006, 11:01 AM

Of course he will get over it. Many of our players broke into tears after the Multan tragedy. Come to think of it, we got much closer in the Multan test, albeit against a far weaker team. Bashar was a part of that team, and we did get over it. As a matter of fact, the standard of cricket played in this test has been of the highest level. We can only get better from here. This defeat should have a positive effect on them. They won't cry over spilled milk for too long.
For the sake of the team, and our Captain, I hope your right. No doubt the players will learn alot from this game - as they should. But the fact remains, this loss will haunt Bashar for the rest of his career (I admit I don't know all that much about Multan, I wasn't as avid a supporter as I am now. So I'm sure your right. But this just seems, to me anyway, to be one of those things that is be hard to overcome).

GuruTM

April 13, 2006, 11:29 AM

Follow this thread.

http://www.banglacricket.com/alochona/showthread.php?t=12973

sar2005

April 13, 2006, 11:54 AM

This forum has gone crazy. Asking for change for Bashar??
I agree he has limitation but one has to remember that he is leading a BD team and not AUS. You have noticed what Ponting does at time, haven't you? He can overcome those with a bunch of world stars. Give Bashar a Hussey, Hayden, Gilcrist, Warne or Lee. You will see his captency.
Most importantly, we don't have a player in team yet who can lead the team from the front and expect all due respects from his mates.
Unless you want to see a big chaos in the team, forget about this, at least untill the next world cup.

Ejaj

April 13, 2006, 12:07 PM

Bashar should be replaced with Rafiq. He is a much more inspirational figure in BD and he does have much much better crickeitng brain and He is never afraid liek Bashar.
Rafiq.. my future captain of BD.

fwullah

April 13, 2006, 12:17 PM

"For the sake of the team, and our Captain, I hope your right. No doubt the players will learn alot from this game - as they should. But the fact remains, this loss will haunt Bashar for the rest of his career (I admit I don't know all that much about Multan, I wasn't as avid a supporter as I am now. So I'm sure your right. But this just seems, to me anyway, to be one of those things that is be hard to overcome)." I could not watch the Multan test live, nor could I watch today's match live. However, I've seen highlights of both matches and one thing that I'm certain, we were not ready to win a test match back during 2003 vs. Pakistan, and we are also not ready now to win a test match in 2006 vs. Australia. Otherwise, Mashrafee would not have dropped the catch of Ponting, Bashar would not have ran himself out playing in such a lazy fashion, our fielding would not have been so bad throughout the test match, and players like Enamul Junior, Md. Ashraful and Aftab Ahmed would have risen on the occassion. And as somebody said, this Australian team is far superior to that Pakistan team. "Bashar should be replaced with Rafiq. He is a much more inspirational figure in BD and he does have much much better crickeitng brain and He is never afraid liek Bashar. Rafiq.. my future captain of BD."Rafique is 36 years old. Even if he stays fit longer than expected, then he won't play for more than 4 years.

Ejaj

April 13, 2006, 12:18 PM

This forum has gone crazy. Asking for change for Bashar??
I agree he has limitation but one has to remember that he is leading a BD team and not AUS. You have noticed what Ponting does at time, haven't you? He can overcome those with a bunch of world stars. Give Bashar a Hussey, Hayden, Gilcrist, Warne or Lee. You will see his captency.
Ponting is highly criticized for his captaincy in Australia. despite having such great players. Offcoarse, Bashar doesnt have the luxary of Ponting .. having 8 of the world's best players.. but. he has to do much better with what he has now. Perhaps.. we dont even need to look at other countries to verify this. Our Chacha was a much better captain than Bashar.. unfortunatley.. our bowling and batting was 1/3rd of what we have now. So.. techincally.. Bashar should perform 3 times more than what Chacha. With a team like this.. i cant excuse bashar having such a pathetic state of mind.. ::. Someone..afraid to try someting different.
All i want.. a true leadership and sharp aggresive decision from our captain. Bangladesh did do some amazing thing under chacha.. when team batting/bowling was just rubbish. But. Chacha atleast tried to make maximum use of what we had. and.. thus.. occassional success came. I am sure.. if we have someone like chacha's crickting brain and heart... we would have won couple of more right now.

Ejaj

April 13, 2006, 12:21 PM

Fwullah:

Its amazing .. how much a 36 years old Rafiq can give to our country. Others shoudl learn from him. He is competing a bunch of 20#s and he is still leading. Amazing stuf.. he draws respect so much. Even bashar should learn someting from him.

User Name

April 13, 2006, 12:33 PM

Sumon is just fine. Quit whining about him.

GuruTM

April 13, 2006, 01:02 PM

I sometimes have serious doubt about sumon's cricketing mind. Sometimes i ask myself what is he thinking? Then i ask myself again, is he really thinking at all? He is just the most consistent batsman in the team and admirable, likable, polite, gentle meni biral. I am really a fan of HB but i hate to watch him captaining BD side. Worst possible choice of a captain a team can afford. Poor body language, inconfidentness, pessimist mind set........sometimes very very irritating.

Miraz

April 13, 2006, 01:08 PM

Bashar should be replaced with Rafiq. He is a much more inspirational figure in BD and he does have much much better crickeitng brain and He is never afraid liek Bashar.
Rafiq.. my future captain of BD.

We should think for some young blood. Rafiq is undoubtedly the best player in Bangladesh side but I feel he lacks qualitgy of a leader. He is a performer not a leader (same applies to Bashar). Ability to speak english is also a major factor in recent days as the captain will represent Bangladesh on & off the field (in ICC organized meetings).

I think we should immediately make someone like Ashraful or Shariar Nafees as a vice captain instead of Pilot who can eventually turn into Captain of Bangladesh side. Before that we have to keep Bashar as captain (no othet options mate!!)

Ahmed_B

April 13, 2006, 01:18 PM

I am mad and craziliy mad. Bashar is lucky that. I am so far away from Dhaka and cant actualyl reach him..
Please feel free to spend some valuable money and fly all the way to Dhaka and do whatever you want to Bashar. Atleast that will save us all the pain of going through your reckless language about him.

As Mod:
Control your blind hatred and overboard languages on this issue. You have every right to dislike or criticize someone... but no right to lose your sanity of wording.

mildwind

April 13, 2006, 01:26 PM

It is obvious that bashar was not really up to his task. He made quite awful mistakes as captain and as batsman. But this should also be considered that he is not used to getting this kind of scenario against world class cricket power. Also as a captain he is not matured yet. Moreover we have no real option ahead of World cup. So it is much good for us to talk about solution given that Bashar is captain.

What can we do? Obviously he has to get ideas from Whatmore how to build on captaincy skills. He also has to understand the bowling aspect. That means he needs the ability to think like a bowler. The reason why all-rounders and bowlers succeeded as captain just because they knew how to exploit the condition and set the fielding as well change the bowlers accordingly. Captains play the most important role in the field.

Bashar seems always keen to improve. I count on him. Hopefully our think tank will look upon the issue and start working on it.

sar2005

April 13, 2006, 02:09 PM

Ponting is highly criticized for his captaincy in Australia. despite having such great players. Offcoarse, Bashar doesnt have the luxary of Ponting .. having 8 of the world's best players.. but. he has to do much better with what he has now. Perhaps.. we dont even need to look at other countries to verify this. Our Chacha was a much better captain than Bashar.. unfortunatley.. our bowling and batting was 1/3rd of what we have now. So.. techincally.. Bashar should perform 3 times more than what Chacha. With a team like this.. i cant excuse bashar having such a pathetic state of mind.. ::. Someone..afraid to try someting different.
All i want.. a true leadership and sharp aggresive decision from our captain. Bangladesh did do some amazing thing under chacha.. when team batting/bowling was just rubbish. But. Chacha atleast tried to make maximum use of what we had. and.. thus.. occassional success came. I am sure.. if we have someone like chacha's crickting brain and heart... we would have won couple of more right now.

so what's the bottom line? Do you want chacha back?? Or else advise who should be the replacement of Bashar right away. I saw you talk about Rafiq :confused: Has he captained any team ever in his life??

billah

April 13, 2006, 02:53 PM

Rafiq bhai: Looking at Kapali's dismal records, I think he will never ever, ever get another chance with the national team, specially if he converts to Islam. That would be the end of his miserable career. How could you have suggested a suicidal thing like that! :)

sadi

April 13, 2006, 02:58 PM

Rafiq and pilot are not the solution... only three candidate I see are ash, shahriar nafees and rajin.... rajin was already vc for bangladesh for sometime... so they should choose one of these three and go along with him.... rajin would be a good choice but he just came back into the side.... not sure about ash's maturity... his batting atleast doesn't show that he is getting matured... shahriar nafees is another good choice

ASA

April 13, 2006, 03:03 PM

can someone remind me how on earth kapali's religion came into the topic in the first place? who on earth suggested (first) that he should convert? is this pakistan - what the hell is wrong with you guys?!!!

rudro

April 13, 2006, 03:10 PM

Rafiq and pilot are not the solution... only three candidate I see are ash, shahriar nafees and rajin.... rajin was already vc for bangladesh for sometime... so they should choose one of these three and go along with him.... rajin would be a good choice but he just came back into the side.... not sure about ash's maturity... his batting atleast doesn't show that he is getting matured... shahriar nafees is another good choice

Agree, except that I don't think its right time to think about Bashar's replacement. Even if it is, there is no better performer in the team to take over (don't create a ZIM by bringing a novice Taibu to captaincy).

ammark

April 13, 2006, 05:57 PM

Rafiq bhai: Looking at Kapali's dismal records, I think he will never ever, ever get another chance with the national team, specially if he converts to Islam.

I am baffled at this comment! Where the heck did it come from? I seriously pity the mentality of people if his religion is a cause for favouritism or disdain. I never want that BD team is going to be so myopic as Pakistans. Lojjajonok bepar!

tanvir_nus

April 13, 2006, 07:26 PM

Going back to the topic, Yes I do think Bashar is not a good captain. But is he replaceable now? No. Simply because all the choices have been tried and there is no source for atleast another 5 years and atleast till the world cup. His captaincy should last till then and he should be given his ultimate test only then. Till then, Bashar's captaincy... Let's not question it at all.

That also means a lot of things. The next captain will know what is expected from him and the others around him will know as well. Bangladesh team does not have the luxury of a bad-boy-ready-to-take-on-anybody-anyway captain. Bashar is easily the most loved, respected and his whole team is loyal to him. You can judge yourself from their faces. The whole team just adores him and they will listen to him and is whole-heartedly behind him. So the unity can not be questioned. He is by far the most successful captain, and the best till now. But I know for sure one thing, there is a greater one to come.

However, yes after some time he has to go from captaincy. Under him, our team will not be great. Under him we will not take risk. Under him the team will always be laid back, a bit relaxed, and not develop never-die attitude. Hate me if you want, but he lacks the rough,daring,innovative, competitive attitude that is so badly needed in a successful captain. He just simply lacks those skills.

I guess one of the Mash, Ash, Abir will take over. Most probably Abir is the best choice and the safest. But Ash and Mash are gambles, and both of them fit so well to the idea of an aggressive captain we need so much. But someone has to take over sooner or later. I hope the fans and selectors realise that Bashar was good upto one point, now we need to go higher than that.

al Furqaan

April 13, 2006, 09:15 PM

I hope the fans and selectors realise that Bashar was good upto one point, now we need to go higher than that.

- tanvir_nus

spot on...bashar was a good captain until very recently. he was the best batsman (statistically) and so at least lead by example on the field.

if you look at our cricketing history, there are roughly 4 phases. each phase requires a different captain based on our capabilities.

in phase 1, until ICC championship in 97, we were competive and need a good captain.

in phase 2, which was from 1997 up to the home series against india in 2004, we were generally a very poor team and it didnt matter what our captain did. our main objective was damage control. so tactical errors or passiveness was not a burner for us. as someone posted earlier on this thread i think, we were too bad of a team for it to really matter what field setting we had, or what bowling changes were made. it didn't really matter.

in phase 3, which was from late 2004 to the very recent past, we were a team on the up. we were capable of competing against anyone, anywhere, anytime, but were also capable of embarassing implosions. for these scenarios, we needed a captain who played it safe and went the conservative route. best example, the Cardiff win against these same Ozzies. had bashar gambled and gone for the kill after OZ were 9-2, it is highly probable that they would have piled on a bigger total than 249. with tapash and nazmul who bowled as loosely as they did, it is highly possible that they would have gone 300-9 instead of 249-5. that game, we could have chased a maximum of 265 in all likelyhood. so bashar's defensive tactics were appreciated. at least by me. this is a big reason why bashar has 12 ODI wins, and 1 test draw as opposed to any of his predecessors (other reason is that bashar's teams have been far better than any other BD outfit).

phase 4: now however, we have been situations were we could really tighten the noose. in lanka when we had em 48-4, then again in BD when we had em 43-4, we let them off the hook. and of course OZ at 93-6.

at least in the 2nd innings bashar did his job well yesterday. but he prolly will let pressure let up in the 2nd test, if we create any.

problem is that, we don't have any captains other than him. perhaps rafique, but that might distract from his batting/bowling. ppl mentioned that pilot was our best captain (he just let a terribly inept team). how would pilot be?

but i think, we should go with bashar until after WC 07 and then try to find a solution or at least groom the replacement.<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

PoorFan

April 13, 2006, 10:35 PM

but i think, we should go with bashar until after WC 07 and then try to find a solution or at least groom the replacement.

<!--StartFragment -->Yes, talk about Bashar's captaincy replacement after world cup.

INMO, never think Ash as captain, unless he become a REAL cricketer. Nafees is a good choice, but not sure about Rajin. And certainly no more old name please, we need new blood as captain.

<!-- / message --><!-- sig --><!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

chinaman

April 13, 2006, 11:39 PM

Alright already, Bashar is not a good captain anymore. Let's fire him from the post.

Any taker, please raise your hand, else hold your tongue.

Ejaj

April 14, 2006, 04:58 AM

SN would be the best choice fot captaincy. He is a smart man and i m confident , he will be a much attacking captain than bashar.

Nilas

April 18, 2006, 01:47 AM

For me the big question is Why he didn't let aftab bowl ? Why?
He is a mysterious captain.